Darryl Hunt and Kirk Bloodsworth, exonerated after spending decades behind bars for crimes they did not commit, will share their stories with the vlog community as part of a three-day symposium about wrongful convictions.
During their campus visit April 19-21, Hunt and Bloodsworth will discuss how their unwavering determination to prove their innocence combined with DNA evidence ultimately set them free and how their unjust incarcerations forever changed their lives.
Symposium events, which are free and open to the public, include panel discussions, a film screening, lecture, and book and DVD signing session with Hunt and Bloodsworth.
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“Most of us grew up believing that the justice system works. That if we were wrongly accused the system would right itself and we would never serve decades in prison,” said Earl Smith, Arnold A. Sio Visiting Professor of Diversity and Community and one of the symposium organizers.
“The provocative, in-depth conversations with Hunt and Bloodsworth will illuminate pitfalls of the criminal justice system.”
In two separate cases, Bloodsworth and Hunt were both convicted of rape and murder, but were later exonerated by DNA evidence.
Bloodsworth is the subject of the book, Bloodsworth: the True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA. Hunt’s story is chronicled in the HBO documentary The Trials of Darryl Hunt, which will be screened at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 19, in Love Auditorium.
Hunt’s attorney, Mark Rabil, will take part in the discussions as well.
Smith says the symposium, sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, will serve as a powerful learning tool for students who have been studying the intersections of race, crime, and justice in his Sociology of Deviance course.